© Reuters. Passersby walk past an electric monitor displaying the Japanese yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan October 4, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global stock indexes rose and U.S. Treasury yields edged higher on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to a U.S. consumer price report for possible clues on when the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates.
slipped, being whipsawed late on Tuesday after a social media message on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s account claimed the regulator had approved bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) but was later revealed to have been made by an unauthorized person.
Bitcoin was last down slightly at $45,563. The SEC is expected to decide later in the day whether to approve an application from asset managers Ark Investments and 21Shares to launch a spot bitcoin ETF.
Investors are gearing up for the December consumer price index report due on Thursday. It is expected to show that headline inflation rose 0.2% in the month and by 3.2% on an annual basis.,
“There’s still speculation about when the Fed may lower rates. I take them for their word – higher for longer. But it will be data dependent, and if inflation comes down more than the Fed wants, that’s going to be the next issue,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.
Investors are also anxious to see U.S. company quarterly results, which begin with reports from some of the big U.S. banks on Friday.
The rose 197.64 points, or 0.53%, to 37,722.8, the gained 32.01 points, or 0.67%, to 4,788.51 and the added 131.91 points, or 0.89%, to 14,989.62.
The pan-European index lost 0.18% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.46%.
Earlier, – which had its best year in a decade in 2023 – climbed 2% to break above 34,000 for the first time since 1990. Exporters led the charge, helped by a softening yen after data showed Japanese real wages shrank for a 20th month in November.
U.S. and European markets surged at the end of 2023 as inflation cooled more quickly than expected and central banks struck a softer tone, encouraging investors to bet on big rate cuts this year.
Benchmark 10-year yields edged lower after a 10-year note auction. They were last up at 4.037%.
The fell 0.156%, with the euro up 0.36% to $1.097.
Oil prices fell after an unexpected jump in stockpiles. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 87 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $71.37 a barrel. futures fell 79 cents, or 1%, to settle at $76.80.
dropped 0.3% to $2,024.29 an ounce.
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